Anywhere But Here
by samdawn87
Summary: There is an imposter within Gaara's camp. One of the enemy has infiltrated their ranks using the transformation jutsu. It's up to Shikamaru and Temari to find out who it is. But what if the one they are looking for is Shikamaru himself?
1. Imposter

Hooray! My first story on my new account! I haven't written anything in so long and I figured that since I now have more time on my hands, I would start over and give it another shot. I love Naruto and adore ShikaTema. Thus this story came to be! This is different from the way things happen in the series. Just an idea that I thought would be interesting! Anyway, reviews would be appreciated. And constructive criticism is always welcome! Enjoy.

Oh, almost forgot the disclaimer. I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Nor am I in any way affiliated with the people who do!

Chapter One: The Imposter

"This had better work."

The voice that spoke was deep and slow, determination evident in every word. He stared hard at the large blade of the sword that was propped up against the table before him. Although the room was lit only by a few dim lanterns, the tall slender man could see his reflection perfectly within the cold steel. His chocolate brown eyes concentrated hard, looking over his form for any mistakes. Anything that could give him away. There was no problem with the clothing. The shoes, the black pants and accompanying black long sleeve shirt, the green jacket, the headband that bore the symbol of the allied shinobi force tightly secured around his left bicep. Nothing wrong there. His gaze rested upon his face. Although the features were foreign to him, the man knew that there were no problems here as well. A soft sigh escaped thin lips as he tightened the messy ponytail of ebony hair atop his head. One of the earrings in his ear caught light from the fire in the glass case above him. The dark stud shone brightly.

His thoughts were broken by a collection of panicked voices outside. They started out distant and muffled but were getting louder and easier to understand as the seconds passed. Whoever was speaking was coming closer. Suddenly, the flap that served as the door to the tent in which he was standing opened in one swift motion. There in the darkness stood a small group of ninja, worry apparent on all their faces. Their leader stepped forward with urgency. She was also tall, he noticed, though not as tall as he was. Her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into four ponytails except for the bangs, which hung loosely around the headband on her forehead. It was Temari, the sister of the Kazakage.

"Shikamaru," the girl spoke. She was almost out of breath. Had the battle started already? This was not good. If so, all of his plans would be ruined.

"What's going on?" the man asked sharply, immediately realizing she was speaking to him. After all, he _was_Shikamaru. For the time being, anyway. He held his breath and awaited her reply.

"We have just received word from headquarters that the enemy has been infiltrating our camps posed as one of our own. According to the source, this jutsu is so powerful that not even a difference in chakra can be detected. They are exact replicas of their counterparts."

A mental sigh of relief. He thought he wouldn't get the chance to carry out his mission. Nevertheless this wasn't exactly good news. He was going to have to be extremely careful from this moment on.

"I see." Shikamaru glanced thoughtfully around the group that stood before him. "So the imposter could be anybody, even one of us. We have to proceed with caution."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They all looked at each other, fear in their eyes and suspicion in their hearts. They didn't want to believe that one of their comrades could be the enemy. This situation gave them no other choice. Temari kept her teal blue eyes forward, locked on the man in front of her. Something was different about his stance, she noticed. Normally he stood slouched to one side, his hands shoved in his pockets, all over appearance apathetic. Now Shikamaru stood straight and alert, his expression calm yet serious. He quickly became aware of the way the blonde sand ninja was staring at him. He brought his right hand to the back of his head and rubbed the nape of his neck.

"This is going to be such a pain." he groaned before going to sit at the small table that stood between him and the others.

Temari told the people standing behind her to go back to their respective tents to get some rest. After all, they were still going to have to battle the previous Kage in the near future.

"Don't tell anyone else about the possible intruder." she warned. "There is already so much unrest among the troops. We need to focus on the fight ahead. But be on the lookout for suspicious activity and report any such findings back to me and Shikamaru immediately."

"Understood." was the collective reply before the few people who were gathered made their way outside.

Temari walked over to the empty seat at the table across from Shikamaru and sat down. Neither of them spoke for quite some time.

"Shouldn't you be going to get some rest yourself?" Shikamaru asked, not sure what else he should do. Was she already suspicious of him? No, she couldn't be. Otherwise she wouldn't have said to report anything to the both of them. That is, unless she didn't want him to think she was suspicious.

Impossible! There was no way this girl could know that he was actually Zetsu in disguise. Yet the way she sat there staring at him made him nervous.

"This is bad, Shikamaru."

Finally, the silence was broken. Normally Temari wouldn't be so open with her concerns. But the man that sat before her was her friend. They had come to each other's aid many times, their villages always looking out for each other. She had saved his life and he had saved hers. She was the ambassador to the Leaf from the Sand and he was always her escort. They worked together on the Chunin exams. She could trust him.

"Yeah…it is…" he agreed quietly, looking once again at his reflection in the blade of the sword that was now inches away from his body.

She didn't notice when the corners of his lips turned up in a small smile.


	2. Captive

**Thank you for the review, jayjoan! Anyone else who reads this story, feel free to leave a review as well. I would greatly appreciate it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Nor am I in any way affiliated with the people who do!**

* * *

Pain. That's all he could feel. Sharp, digging, blinding, nauseating pain. He tried to think back, tried to remember how he ended up in this situation.

"Ugh…" He groaned softly.

Thinking hurt. In fact, everything hurt. He attempted to move but quickly realized it was impossible. He hands were bound to the cold, damp stone wall behind him with chakra barring restraints. Same for his feet, making the use of any form of jutsu impossible. Well, except maybe genjutsu. Too bad the imprisoned ninja had been too lazy to try to learn it.

Using what little strength he could muster, he jerked violently against the heavy chains. A flash of bright blue light emerged from the metal links. With the light came a wave of more piercing pain.

"Looks like somebody is finally awake." A deep voice spoke from a neighboring room upon hearing the noise.

Shikamaru Nara immediately stopped his movements. He should have known that he wasn't alone - after all, someone had to have put him in his current state of confinement. But for some reason hearing the other person surprised him. Maybe it was because he couldn't process things clearly due to the pain. Maybe it was because he didn't want to. Either way, it didn't matter. He could now hear heavy footsteps and they were coming in his direction.

Before he had any more time to think, the door opened wide.

"I should have known." said Shikamaru. His voice gave no hint of emotion.

Three men entered the room. Although it was dark, there was just enough light for him to see exactly who they were, thanks to the various torches lining the walls and entrance. Two of them wore black robes with red clouds. One was half black and half white, the upper half of his body covered by what looked like large aloe plant leaves. The other wore a white mask, both his sharingan and rinnegan eyes shining brightly through their respective slots. The third man was also wearing a robe, though it differed from the first two. His was deep maroon in color and had two circular eye designs on the hood. Peaking out from under that hood were purple encircled eyes hiding behind a pair of dark rimmed glasses and shining silver hair.

"So…" began the man with the mask, his tone pleasant. "this is the genius leaf ninja I've heard so much about?"

The man standing at his right nodded his head slightly. "The very one."

"I'm pleased you speak so highly of me, Kabuto." Shikamaru snarled, every word saturated with sarcasm. "And you must be Madara Uchiha. I've heard quite a bit about you as well."

"Nothing as flattering, I'm sure." He laughed.

There was silence for a few moments. Kabuto noticed that their prisoner was deep in thought. An evil smile formed on his lips.

"Don't think you're going to be able to escape. There isn't a way out of those restraints. I built them myself."

"Who says I'm planning an escape?"

"Well, I certainly hope you aren't planning on being rescued, either. Nobody is going to come for you."

His words took the leaf shinobi by surprise, but he didn't let it show. Shikamaru wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of showing them any emotion. No matter what happened, he would never show any signs of weakness.

But what did he mean? Why would nobody come for him? It's not like they wouldn't know he was missing. He was next in command of their unit, right under the Kazakage. They would notice immediately that he wasn't around. They only way nobody would come to his aid was if they weren't able to. And they wouldn't be able to unless they themselves were captured, or in battle, or-

His thoughts were broken by the man halfway enclosed with the large green leaves, who was now clearing his throat. "They won't come for you because they don't even know you are missing." He turned his attention to the prisoner.

"What do you mean?"

"As far as anybody in your pitiful little camp is concerned, you are still among them. My transformation jutsu is perfect. Even the chakra patterns are an exact replica of the original."

Shikamaru inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Good, they were all safe and unharmed. That he knew of anyway. But why would the enemy kidnap him and put a clone in his place? The only reason he could think of was to gain information. After all, he was their lead strategist. Every detail of every plan of attack came from him. It would have been more convenient for them to replicate Gaara, if that was what they were after. He was the leader of all the Allied Shinobi Force. He knew everything that was going on because he was in command of it all.

Then again, the young Kazakage would have been the more difficult one to take. He was always heavily guarded by a number of shinobi. This made sense. Shikamaru was never guarded by anyone. In fact, he was usually alone. It was easier to think and come up with effective strategies without the interruption of company. The only one who he ever really spent any time with at all was-

Temari. His breath caught in his throat when her image entered his mind. Along with this came a familiar feeling in his gut. Troublesome butterflies. He couldn't remember when he started feeling this way. During the war? While working together on the Chunin exams? Who knew. It's not like it mattered anyway. The feelings weren't going away anytime soon, no matter how hard he tried to ignore them. And in this situation it was vital for him to do so. He had to figure a way out of this. Soon.


End file.
